Meet Kalise Johnson and Jason Kyle of CRAFTED x SOLES in Mid-City Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalise Johnson and Jason Kyle.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My story starts with creating and establishing my event company Tauri Red Events. Planning events has been a passion of mine for years, which began with becoming an event lead for children’s parties right after High School. From that to beginning to plan special events for family and friends, I knew this was not just a phase, and making this my career path was a must.

With Tauri Red Events officially being on paper, I needed to start it’s reputation with something fun and memorable. Bouncing ideas off of my creative partner Jason Kyle, CRAFTED x SOLES came to life.

Due to both of our interest in the sneaker world, and the popularity of paint and sip’s, there wasn’t a better idea than combining the two. “Creating your walking masterpiece” and “Remix your kicks” became reality and soon became more than just a tagline while diving deeper into the event.

After our first event which catered to adults, most of whom had children, or significant children in their lives – all expressed that they too would love this activity. We definitely didn’t disagree. Shortly after, the stars fell align and I was approached by the youth activity director from Fresh Empire, a national platform to encourage a non-smoking lifestyle for teens.

Our Fresh Empire event opened our eyes to a whole new path for CxS and brought on a whole new meaning. Our goals with bringing CxS to our inner-city youth is to create an opportunity to promote and explore artistic gifts, provide resources for the underprivileged to recreate, renew, refurbish or redesign worn shoes they can be confident in wearing, and to offer an outlet socially and artistically as a form of entertainment to incite a new wave of social entertainment through creativity, art and productivity.

After our Fresh Empire event, we hosted a CRAFTED x SOLES for a girl’s foster group home, and are currently in the works of finalizing our end of the year event with another group home.

Has it been a smooth road?
Though it has not been a total smooth road, I would not call them struggles, but learning experiences. Finding a smooth flow of the event has probably been our biggest challenge thus far. Knowing how much paint to give, how to mix colors, and staying within the time period. We didn’t realize how focused and precise people would become, with creating their walking masterpieces – and that takes time.

It has been a bit of a struggle of getting actual shoe customizers to be apart of the event. Though a “teacher” is not necessarily needed, but having an expert in the field to help guide and assist is very helpful and appreciated by the guest.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Tauri Red Events is a special events company that specializes in event planning and coordination and will soon branch off into branding and cater to start-up up businesses. Because Tauri Red Events is in it’s start-up stages it self, CRAFTED x SOLES is our biggest accomplishment thus far, and it will always be – even when we accomplish bigger.

I’m most proud that this step in making a difference in our community has been made. I don’t have children myself (as of yet), but it truly takes a village to make a difference is children’s lives. What I am not doing, someone else can (and is) and vise versa. I am very proud to be apart of the village.

What sets me apart is that I am highly intertwined in the community I am aiming to serve. I am passionate about not only becoming successful, but being an aid to my peers becoming successful. Again, I am passionate about the city and the community I was born and raised in, and aim to be apart of the uplifting through the youth and upcoming businesses.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, this is the perfect city for a business such as mine. This is a city of dreamers, go getters, and unlimited resources. But there is always room for improvement, and housing and job wages is a major conversation for a reason. If you are just moving to this city, I can see it being extremely difficult to pursue your dream and provide a safe and comfortable lifestyle.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tauriredevents.com
• Email: kalise@tauriredevents.com
• Instagram: @tauriredevents @craftedsoles
• Facebook: facebook.com/craftedsoles , facebook.com/tauriredevents

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